Mobile computing devices such as smart phones, tablets, and global positioning systems (GPS) are often used to generate location information for a user, which is thereby relied upon to facilitate navigation from one location to another. Location information may be paired by mobile computing devices with specific directions that are accessible in both visual and/or audio form (e.g., maps, moving graphics, images, lists of written directions/instructions, vocal commands, etc.) to guide the user to his or her desired location.
Directions that are paired with location information by a mobile computing device for location tracking purposes are particularly advantageous to individuals who suffer from certain forms of impairment, such as blindness, dementia, or intoxication, in addition to individuals who are generally unaware of (or who have forgotten) how to navigate to a particular location. The directions generated by mobile computing devices, however, are usually provided as discrete instructions. For visually impaired users, in particular, discrete audible commands such as “turn left” or “continue across the intersection” can be problematic because such commands offer no sense of degree as to how far left the individual should turn or how wide the intersection may be. Instead, the user must rely on external cues to fill in missing informational gaps that exist between directional prompts provided by the mobile computing device and the user's presently detected location.
In the case of visually impaired users, the external cues may include reliance upon directional sound that is perceived external to an audio system of the mobile computing device. In other words, visually impaired users rely upon sound waves sensed by their own ears to gage a distance and direction to a sound emitting source. While the process of interpreting directional sound is something that most people subconsciously perform on a regular basis, it is of paramount importance for the daily navigation of the visually impaired. Thus, a mobile computing device that provides discrete navigational information becomes problematic when a visually impaired person's situational awareness is further reduced, for example, by headphones of the mobile computing device that not only limit the perception of directional sound by physically blocking the introduction of external sound waves into the ear of the user but also fail to electronically generate directional sound waves that would further supplement the navigation process.